I tried to buy the Frenec Fricsay set, but I am having trouble I suspect it is the ridiculous long file names, and that I will have to call CS. I suspect I threw $2 in the toilet.
/Edit - relaunching eMusicJ did the job, and the three discs downloaded uber fast. This is of course a bad sign, bit rate is low even for eMusic standards. Encoded with LAME 3.98, they are VBR, all in the 150K range. This likely hast to to with the age of the masters, etc. Still for $2 they sound pretty decent for older recordings through my not-too-pro speakers.
The Furtwangler set Disc 1 Track 46 (1:05) is Defective - multiple Download Errors. The CS crew reimbursed the track once, but same result. Odds they'll ever actually replace it - astronomical.
Edit - Paid Amazon $0.89 for the track, not defective there, but of course the tags don't match because the moh-rons at eMu have truncated the artist listing.....Smart Playlist, Select All, new Playlist where I can actually get the track into the proper order. Big PITA but still a nice bit of music altogether.
Bitrate averages about 160, fairly common for vintage reissue. Sounds good so far - opens with very nice rendition of the Pastoral, liked a lot. It and the 5th are repeated later in the set - seem to be different versions, but would have rather had different symphonies. Still happy though. I'm considering the Bartok set because I don't have much of him.
I enjoyed the Bartok, quality was acceptable given my relatively low speaker system. Like you, I had nothing by him. Last.FM reported I had never scrobbled a Bartok composed piece (a strange sentence, really).
I did buy the Furtwangler set, but had three tracks not dload. I will contact CS tomorrow.
Oh, BTW, the CS person blamed my using an older version DLM which couldn't "handle" the very long tag - never mind it managed OK with the other 104 tracks. I declined his invitation to install the newer DLM - been burnt there before. With refund for 3 attempts I come out ahead of the $0.89 I paid Amazon for the track. I also declined to clear my cache and cough my cookies.
Oh, and since when have long tags been a problem for an eMu DLM? They truncate them all the time anyhow.
GP - I agree with Miles Davis comments re cohesiveness. I'll go through my MD recordings and come up with two or three I really like. Somehow I've now got about 12 or so albums. I did buy six all on a three CD set, which was really good value, and is probably a better way than the greatest hits approch.
Strange label, that Classique Perfecto - some of the releases are a total beat, one short album for $5.99, while others are big sets - Rene Leibowitz - Beethoven's Finest Symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic - but wait this sounds familiar, I'm seeing an angry looking Ludwig album cover in my mind - oh, here it is for $4.40. There was one of these bargain 9 symphonies where the first 2 didn't download - can't remember which one. Maybe it's in this thread somewhere. Ah, no it was the End of eMu thread about this Klemperer Beethoven set, which was very satisfactory after I got the latter 7 symphonies for free.
The Rudolph Kempe and Edwin Fischer boxes on Classique Perfecto are also quite large, also Willem Mengelberg, oh, heck and a few others who aren't known to me.
That Claudio Arrau beats the pants off this one with only 439 minutes.
BT, that Acoustic Blues looks good - at what $0.03/song it's a steal even if I have some of them already. It reminds me of some of those bare bones Euro trash 10 CD box sets I've gotten at Amazon - none of which I've regretted.
@Plong42 - the last 7 tracks of the Brubeck box looks to be this entire album - Live In Portland 1959, which would cost you $0.15 less than the box. Coool.
@BadThoughts - I picked up the Brubeck, since I am a big fan of the Quartet / Desmond. So far so good, seems to be old radio broadcasts. I am pretty sure I have the 1954 Storyville set on another label, but the sound is acceptable given age and "slightly higher than bootleg" status. I am looking forward to listening at home through some better speakers. Bottom Line, with the not-quite six bucks.
I saw the Accoustic Blues box set yesterday on emu - it looked really interesting until I saw the price at £83.36!! I can see me looking at 7 Digital and Amazon later...
The Acoustic Blues is just about what you would expect, some higher quality than others, but that is the nature of the genre. I am listening to a Lead Belly tune now which is a live recording (Ho-Day), quite clear, followed by You Are My Sunshine by Mississippi John Hurt, probably the best quality on the set so far. A few have been rather scratchy, but that is a plus for this sort of blues.
Damn. Lots of great deals for $5.99,$5.99, $5.99,$5.99, maybe a $5.84 to break the monotony, $5.99,$5.99, $5.99,$5.99. And me with $5.00 to use or lose.
Another 10 hour box I stumbled across - Jean Martinon - Essential Classical Masters 1951-1960. Some selections not the usual but I don't know this conductor.
Four days since refresh and I haven't hit the button on anything yet - troubling, very troubling.
Question for the Ornette Coleman cognoscenti. Given that this six-album box set can currently be had for $9 + shipping on Amazon marketplace, and the only album I have is The Shape of Jazz to Come, how close would the other albums in that set be to the next five Ornette Coleman albums I might want to spend time with?
Beauty is a Rare Thing is only Atlantic Albums. This set contains Prestige albums as well. These would be essential for anyone with any interest in Jazz Avant-Garde.
Have to disagree with Doofy - I've got several albums from this Classic Album line, mine were on the 101 Distribution label, notably the Dinah Washington and Bud Powell sets, and have no complaints about them. The Dinah set was 8 albums arranged on 4 CDs grouped by album and chronologically, and they sound fine. They were also damn good buys, so I would not look askance at the series. Having scored the Beauty Is A Rare Thing at eMu as a literally "mispriced box set" I can't vouch for this CD box, but I sincerely doubt the audio quality isn't as good as an MP3 version.
Got me to browsing and just ordered Barney Kessel - The First Four Albums and Jim Hall - 3 Classic Albums Plus.
^^^^ Correct, I have not heard any of these sets. Also ditto on scoring the Atlantic box set! I guess I have 'Something Else'...less familiar with the other Prestige/OJC titles.
Prof, if you ever want to fast forward 4 decades or so, check out 'Sound Grammar' - Ornette won himself a Pulitzer Prize in music for this one!
Comments
So I have to look at this label, not so remarkable, but wait - $2 for Ferenc Fricsay Conducts Bela Bartok....blah,blah - 28 tracks, 213 minutes, RIAS again. Might just be worth $2.
Another $2 puppy I'm not so familiar with.
No bargain here at $6.99 for the 200 track 10 hour RIAS Bach Cantatas Project (RIAS studio recordings from Berlin 1949-1952).
I tried to buy the Frenec Fricsay set, but I am having trouble I suspect it is the ridiculous long file names, and that I will have to call CS. I suspect I threw $2 in the toilet.
/Edit - relaunching eMusicJ did the job, and the three discs downloaded uber fast. This is of course a bad sign, bit rate is low even for eMusic standards. Encoded with LAME 3.98, they are VBR, all in the 150K range. This likely hast to to with the age of the masters, etc. Still for $2 they sound pretty decent for older recordings through my not-too-pro speakers.
Edit - Paid Amazon $0.89 for the track, not defective there, but of course the tags don't match because the moh-rons at eMu have truncated the artist listing.....Smart Playlist, Select All, new Playlist where I can actually get the track into the proper order. Big PITA but still a nice bit of music altogether.
I did buy the Furtwangler set, but had three tracks not dload. I will contact CS tomorrow.
Oh, and since when have long tags been a problem for an eMu DLM? They truncate them all the time anyhow.
14 hours of Claudio Arrau
Six hours of Bernstein conducting symphonies
Three hours of Glenn Gould
There are several other sets. Caveat emptor, of course.
ETA: Same Label (Airline), this time seven hours of live David Brubeck.
The Rudolph Kempe and Edwin Fischer boxes on Classique Perfecto are also quite large, also Willem Mengelberg, oh, heck and a few others who aren't known to me.
That Claudio Arrau beats the pants off this one with only 439 minutes.
BT, that Acoustic Blues looks good - at what $0.03/song it's a steal even if I have some of them already. It reminds me of some of those bare bones Euro trash 10 CD box sets I've gotten at Amazon - none of which I've regretted.
@Plong42 - the last 7 tracks of the Brubeck box looks to be this entire album - Live In Portland 1959, which would cost you $0.15 less than the box. Coool.
Four days since refresh and I haven't hit the button on anything yet - troubling, very troubling.
This new set over at eMu from Vintage Masters looks fun - Blues'n'Boogie, 100 tracks, $5.84.
Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers 5 hours (serious pioneering Country music)
Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz 5 hours
Got me to browsing and just ordered Barney Kessel - The First Four Albums and Jim Hall - 3 Classic Albums Plus.
Prof, if you ever want to fast forward 4 decades or so, check out 'Sound Grammar' - Ornette won himself a Pulitzer Prize in music for this one!